Method and apparatus fo protecting a shingled roof

ABSTRACT

A process and apparatus for protecting a shingled roof of a building which includes the steps of selecting a flexible net shaped to fit a predetermined building roof which net has a plurality of net fastener components positioned around the edge thereof and then placing the selected net on the roof that it is made to cover and attaching each of the net fastener components in alignment with roof fastener components that have been attached to the edge of the building roof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a process and to an apparatus for protecting a shingled roof of a building and especially to a custom made net shaped to fit a roof and having rapid attaching components so that a net can protect the shingles from being blown off during strong winds.

Most residential buildings today are built with angled roofs and are covered and made waterproof using various types of shingles which are applied in overlapping rows to the roof of the building. The shingles protect the building roof from leakage during rain and inclement weather. The most common type of shingle used for covering roofs are made of asphalt materials and especially with asphalt shingles reinforced with fiberglass or the like. A typical building roof is built with truss or roofing joist which are covering with plywood or one inch lumber. The wooden roof is then covered with asphalt impregnated builder's paper and then covered with overlapping shingles. Shingles are attached with roofing nails and typically have an adhesive placed on the ends to protect the shingles from blowing off and pulling loose from the nails. These shingled roofs have been found to have a long life and to withstand all types of inclement weather. However, very strong storms of hurricane force have been shown to lift the shingles and blow them from the roof which would then let rain and water from the storm enter the building, damaging the roof, the building, and the contents of the building.

The present invention is directed towards a method for protecting a shingled roof during hurricanes or strong storms to prevent them from blowing off the roof and which system can be quickly attached over the roof when a storm is approaching and then removed and compactly stored at other times.

Prior patents have been directed towards holding roofs down during strong winds. These are mostly directed towards preventing the entire roof from being pulled from the house. One prior patent may be seen in the Frye U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,388,378 and 5,355,640 for an anchoring system for completed structures which includes an apparatus for securing shingles against wind damage on a sloped or shingled roof and an apparatus for securing the roof structure of a building to the adjacent upper wall structure and an apparatus for securing a roof structure directly to the foundation of the building or to the ground. The system for securing shingles against wind damage includes threaded eyes which are attached through the shingles to the joists of a building for holding wires covering the shingles which are then attached at periodic points through the shingles. The J. E. Allsteadt U.S. Pat. No. 1,137,689 is a roof structure for storage bins which has hold-down cables passing from the roof down to the earth which are held by stakes. In the A. Mann U.S. Pat. No. 822,143, a haystack cover is provided in which a roofing cover is placed over a haystack and has cables with weights hanging therefrom. The E. D. Owen & H. Lichtenberger U.S. Pat. No. 352,424 is a roofing retainer in which wire is attached on threaded fasteners at each end over a roof and is held in different positions with a plurality of wire guides attached to the roof. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,309,822 to Dunkin is an exterior anchoring apparatus for surface sheets. The Double et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,527 is a material supported cover and method for securing a cover to the ground. A plurality of cables, ground anchors, cover sheets and load distribution devices are utilized for shielding and securing a stack of material to the ground. The Gerhardt U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,376 is an apparatus for stabilizing a mobile home roof which uses a plurality of tensioning straps extending transversely across a membrane roof and in contact with the roof. The Rasmussen U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,570 is a tie down assembly for use in securing a camper to a truck.

The present invention advantageously is a process for custom making a net of flexible material with reinforced edges which custom fit over a shingled roof and has preattached rapid coupling or fastener means for attaching the cover to the edge of the roof. This system allows a shingled roof cover to be folded and put away and then rapidly installed in the event of an approaching storm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a residential building having the protective roof net of the present invention installed thereon;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the roof net and building of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective of one corner of the building of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 if a perspective view of a roof fastener anchor; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of a roof fastener anchor; and

FIG. 6 is a third embodiment of a roof fastener anchor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A process and apparatus for protecting a shingled roof of a building which includes the steps of selecting a flexible net shaped to fit a predetermined building roof which net has a plurality of net fastener components positioned around the edge thereof. The selected net is then placed on the roof that it was custom made for over the shingles and attached to each of the net fastener components to an aligned roof fastener component attached to the edge of the building roof. The shingles of the building roof are held during strong winds with the flexible net custom fitted to a predetermined building roof which net has reinforced edges therearound and a plurality of net fasteners attached thereto and positioned in a spaced relationship around the edge of the net. A plurality of roof fastener components having a threaded portion are threadedly attached to the edge of a building roof and are shaped for attaching the net fastener thereto. The roof fastener component can be attached to a building roof edge in alignment with the net fastener components of a net covering a building roof for protecting the roofing shingles of a building during strong winds.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings of FIGS. 1 through 6 and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a shingled roof building 10 can be seen having a building shingled roof covering net 11 which has been cut specifically to fit the roof of the house 10. The house 10 has the roof 12 walls 13 having an entrance door 14 and a garage door 15 and windows 16 and a vent pipe 17 and roof vent 19 through the roof 12. Custom made net covering 11 has been cut and shaped specifically to fit the roof 12 of the building 10 and has an edge reinforcing 18 therearound. The gully 20 of the roof has the reinforcing edges 18 connected and similarly the outer edges 21 are connected together to form a custom roof net 11 that fits over the roof of the particular building 10 complete with an opening in the net having the reinforcing 21 therearound for fitting over the vent pipe 17 and roof vent 19. The net covering may include one or more elastic bands 9 of rubber or other elastic material, if desired, to assist in holding the net taut onto the roof.

The outer edges of the net 11 along the reinforcing 18 has a plurality of fastener components 23 spaced therearound which fastening components can be in the nature of a quick clamp, as more clearly seen in FIG. 3. A plurality of fastening components or anchors 24 are attached to the edge of a roof 12, such as along the eaves 25. The roof fastening components may take different shapes, such as a flat plate 26 has a pair of threaded fasteners or screws 27 and a U-shaped clamp supporting bar 28 which can be attached in spaced relationships around the eaves 25 positioned for alignment with the fastener components 23. The anchors or fastening components can also be similar to that shown in FIG. 5 in which an anchoring bolt 30 anchors a metal plate 31 to the eave 25 and supports a clamping member 32 thereto.

FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified anchor post 33 having a threaded post member 34, which may be in the form of a wood screw, and having a strap surface 35 on the end thereof. This anchor merely requires the installer to thread the threaded portion 34 into the eave and position the bar 35 in the correct position to receive the clamping racket 23.

The method of the present invention requires that a special net covering 11 be made for the particular building 10 which net covering can be made of a nylon mesh or any other flexible netting material desired and has reinforced edges 18 formed therearound. Brackets 23 are attached to the reinforced edges in predetermined positions along the edge that abuts the edge of the roof 25. The system also requires the selection of an anchoring post or fastener component 23 which is attached to the edge of the roof 25 and which is positioned for alignment with the net fastener components. Once the custom made roof net roof cover 11 has been made to a particular building and upon a storm approaching, the net 11 can be pulled from storage and placed directly on top of the roof and the clamps 23 clamped to the individual posts 24 to put a net covering over the shingled roof to protect the shingles from a storm. Once the storm threat is over, the clamps 23 can be unhooked from the posts 24 and the netting removed from the roof. The covering net is flexible and can be folded for storage.

It should be clear at this time that a method for protecting a shingled building roof against strong winds has been provided which, once custom made to fit a building, can be rapidly installed upon an approaching storm and rapidly removed after the storm passes. However, the present invention should not be considered as limited to the forms shown which are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. 

1. A process of protecting a shingled roof of a building comprising the steps of: selecting a net shaped to fit a predetermined building roof and having a plurality of net fastener components positioned in a spaced relationship around the edge thereof; placing said selected net on said predetermined roof to cover the shingles on said roof; attaching a plurality of roof fastener components to the edge of the building roof, each said roof fastener component being positioned to align with one said net fastener component when said net is placed over the selected roof; and attaching each said net fastener component to an aligned roof fastener component; whereby a building roof has its shingles held in position during strong winds.
 2. The process of protecting a shingled roof of a building in accordance with claim 1 in which each said roof fastener is a post threadedly attached to the eave of the predetermined building.
 3. The process of protecting a shingled roof of a building in accordance with claim 2 in which each said roof fastener post has a treaded screw portion end and an eye portion for attaching said net fastener component thereto.
 4. The process of protecting a shingled roof of a building in accordance with claim 3 in which each said roof fastener component is attached to the eave of the predetermined building.
 5. The process of protecting a shingled roof of a building in accordance with claim 4 in which each said roof fastener component eye has a flattened surface for receiving a net fastener component hook thereover.
 6. The process of protecting a shingled roof of a building in accordance with claim 1 including selecting a roof net with reinforced edges having said net fasteners attached thereto.
 7. The process of protecting a shingled roof of a building in accordance with claim 1 including selecting a flexible polymer roof net having reinforced edges.
 8. The process of protecting a shingled roof of a building in accordance with claim 1 including selecting a flexible polymer roof net having at least one elastic band stretching thereacross.
 9. A building shingled roof storm cover comprising the steps of: a flexible net custom shaped to fit a predetermined building roof and having a reinforced edge therearound and plurality of net fastener components attached thereto and positioned in spaced relationship around the edge thereof; a plurality of roof fastener components, each roof fastener component having a treaded portion for threadedly attaching to the edge a building roof and each shaped for attaching one said net fastener component thereto; whereby each said roof fastener component can be attached to a building roof edge and positioned to align with one said net fastener component of a net covering said building for attaching said net fastener component with said roof fastener component for protecting the roofing shingles of a building roof during strong winds.
 10. The building shingled roof storm cover in accordance with claim 9 in which said net is a nylon netting material.
 11. The building shingled roof storm cover in accordance with claim 10 in which each said net fastener is a clamp for rapid attaching of said clamp to one said roof fastener component.
 12. The building shingled roof storm cover in accordance with claim 11 in which each said roof fastener component has a single threaded post having an eye thereon shaped to receive a net fastener component.
 13. The building shingled roof storm cover in accordance with claim 12 in which each roof fastener component is made of stainless steel.
 14. The building shingled roof storm cover in accordance with claim 9 in which said net has a reinforced opening for each vent stack pipe of said building.
 15. The building shingled roof storm cover in accordance with claim 14 in which said net has an opening for a roof vent of said building.
 16. The building shingled roof storm cover in accordance with claim 9 having an elastic band formed in said flexible net. 